1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and apparatus for conveying metal plates from a stack of plates through a plurality of stations, performing machinery operations on the plates when positioned horizontally or vertically, blowing debris from the plates, restacking the machined plates and automatically conveying chips and debris to fork lift scrap drums or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, large metal plates such as steel or aluminum plates that have been precut to the desired dimensions, and require several different types of machining or other operations performed thereon, required a considerable amount of unnecessary man hours to perform these functions. Workers were required to operate overhead cranes or the like when moving the plates to different processing stations. For example, workers were needed to operate the cranes to stack and unstack the plates at each processing station, to clamp the plates in several different positions at different stations so as to be machined or the like, and to clean and stack the plates after each operation was completed.